[Spine2D] Thoughts on Creating Animations

I'm still a total beginner when it comes to Live2D, so I don't really have any pro tips to share just yet. :(

Instead, I thought I'd show the difference between the initial key poses and the final render of a Spine animation I worked on recently!

The key pose phase—when you're nailing down the staging and timing—is usually when you're going back and forth the most with the client about the overall performance. Honestly, it's also the most fun part of the process! It goes quickly, gives you an immediate sense of accomplishment, and serves as a great stress test to see how flexible your rig actually is.

After that, it's just an endless grind of smoothing out the motion... smoothing... smoothing... tweaking details... tweaking... tweaking... having a minor breakdown... until it's finally finished. T_T

Oh, right! Getting feedback from friends during the layout stage is also super important!! When you stare at the same animation for too long, you get tunnel vision and your brain starts automatically justifying things that actually look completely unnatural.

Left: Key poses Right: Final render